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R. P. GASTON.

CARD RACK.

APPLICATION FILED ocT.4, I9I1.

1,309, 1 94;. Patented July 8, 1919.

JWM@ Tm: cuLUMBlA PMNOGRAPII co., WASIIINGTUN. D. c.

R. F. GASTON.

CARD RACK.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 4.1917.

1 ,309, 1 94. Patented July 8, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Iwan/076.-

THEACOLUMDIA pLANoCmAPn co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

ROBERT PATTERSON GASTON, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

`clima-RACK.

Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented J uly 8,1919.

Application filed October 4. 1917. Serial No. 194.823.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ROBERT PATTERSON GASTON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Card- Racks; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and `use the sam-e.

My invention relates to card racks.

One object of my invention is to provide a rack having a plurality ofsections in which each section shall be so disposed with reference tothe other sections and so designated by indicia attached thereto that itmay be used for the temporary reception of cards, when said cards are tobe segregated from a heterogeneous collection of cards and arrangedaccording to any predetermined system.

A further object of my invention is to provide a rack for accomplishingthe aforesaid purpose which shall be simple, cheap and capable offacilitating the segregating operation.

A further object of my invention is to provide a rack which shall becapable of quickly reversing the position of the cards therein at theend of each segregating operation.

A further object of my invention is to provide a frame for removablysupporting said rack so that the rack and cooperating parts may beremoved from the frame during the periods when the segregating operationis not to be performed, thus permitting the frame to be used as a table.

These and further objects of my invention are obtained by the use of theinstrumentalities illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a front view of my improved card rack and supporting frame,portions thereof being broken away, the covers being in place.

Fig. 2 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. l looking in the directionof the arrow 2.

Fig'. 8 is a view of the top of the parts shown in Fig. l looking in thedirection of the arrow 3.

Fig. 4t is a detail view of the lock for locking the card rack inposition.

Fig. 5 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. l looking inthe direction ofthe arrow 5.

Fig. 6 is a section along the line 6--6 of Fig. l looking in thedirection of the arrow.

Fig. 7 is a front view of my improved card rack, the covers being`removed.

Fig. 8 is a view of one form of card for which my improved card rack isadapted.

Fig. 9 is a section along the line 9 9 of Fig. 7 looking in thedirection of the arrow, but the covers are shown in place.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a stop gap for use with my improvedcard rack, as hereinafter explained.

In the drawings l5 represents a frame consisting of the side pieces16-16 supporting the table 17, said parts being secured together in anyapproved manner and additional strength being secured by means of thebrace 18.

The side pieces 16-16 are shaped in profile as shown in Fig. 2, and areprovided at their tops with slots 19-19. The parts just described may beformed of wood, metal or any suitable composition and joined together inany suitable manner.

The shaft 20 is provided with smooth portio-ns 21-21 which are revolublymounted in the slots 1.9-4.9. The ends of the shaft 2O are provided withthreaded portions upon which are screwed the nuts 2Q-22 and said shaftis also provided with enlarged threaded portions 23-23, upon which arescrewed 'the flanges 24-24. The adjacent faces of -the nuts 22-22 andflanges 24k-24 are so located as to loosely embrace the upper ends ofthe said pieces 16-16.

Between the inner faces of the lianges 2li-24 there is mounted myimproved card rack 25, which consists of a bottom, 26, a top'Q?, a. lefthand side piece 9.8 and a right hand side piece 29. The side pieces 28and 29 are secured to the lianges 9.4-2.4 in any approved manner such asby, screws 30, shown in Fig. 7. The shaft 2O is provided with a portion3l which extends between the lianges 2A-24, and all parts of said shaftare formed integrally.

The center shelf of my improved card rack is formed by the two portions32-32 (see Fig. 9), the inner edges of said portions being close to theshaft portion 3l, and said portions 32--32V extend from the side 28 ltothe side 29 and are secured thereto in any approved manner. Thethickness of the portitons 32-32 is equal to, or greater than, thediameter of the shaft portion 31. f

The top intermediate shelf 33 and the bottom intermediate shelf 34 aresubstantially equal in thickness to the thickness of the center shelfsections 32 and said bottom and top intermediate shelves extend betweenthe sides 28 and 29. A plurality of vertical dividing pieces 35 issecured between the bottom 26 and the top 27. Any desired number ofvertical pieces 35. may be used. The number that it is necessary to usein a rack for segregating any particular set of cardswill depend uponthe number of different indicia that may exist upon said cards.

For instance, my improved rack shown in the accompanying drawings isprovided -with nine vertical dividing pieces 35, making ten compartments36, thus rendering it suitable for use with cards such as shown in F 8,upon which there exists a plurality of vertical series of numbers from 0to 9.

' .It is evident that there may be as many compartments 36 in additionprovided as may be desired, whether saine are to be used or not, but theminimum number of conipartments required is that number which will beequal, as above stated, to the number of different indicia upon thecards which are to be segregated.

lhatsoever number of compartments 36 is provided between the bottom 26and the bottom intermediate shelf 34, there is provided a like number ofcompartments such as 40 above the compartments 36, a like number ofcon'ipartments such as 41 above the compartments 46 and a like number ofcon'ipartments such as 42 above the compartments 41.

It is to be noted that the dividing' pieces 85 are each provided with ahole which litsy tightly upon the portion 31 of the shaft 20, hence theshaft supports each dividing piece and thus greatly stiffens the cardrack.

A handle 43 is secured in any approved manner to the bottom 26 and asimilar handle 44 is similarly secured to the top 27.

The outer edges of the bottom 26, the top 27` the shelf portions 32-32and the shelves and 34 are provided with a plurality of finger holes47-47, there being one finger hole on each of said edges for each of thecompartments 36, 40, 41 and 42, and said finger holes are located nearthe center of said compartments so as to provide easy access for thefingers to the edges of the cards when saine are to be removed, ashereinafter explained.

In order to provide means for locking the card rack 25 in a verticalposition, circular segments 48448 are secured 'in any approved manner tothe bottoni 26 and top 27 near the center thereof. These segments extendslightly beyond the outer edges of the bottom 26 and top 27, as shownwith reference tothe bottom 26 in Fig. 5, so as to provide supports forthe covers 49 and 50. Each of the circular segments 48-48 is providedwith a notch 51 for the reception of the stopping piece 52.

The center portion of the stopping piece 52 is adapted to fit looselywithin the notch 51 and said stopping piece is provided with two ends53-53 which are somewhat thinner than the center portion thereof. Saidends are adapted to slide freely within the U shaped guides 54-54, thelatter having feet 55h55 which are secured to the base 56 in anyapproved manner. The base 56 is secured to the table 17 by wing screwssuoli as 57-57, thelatter passing tthrough the base 56 and -having athreaded portion screwed into holes in the table 17.

In order to keep the stopping piece in the position shown in Figs. 4 and5, the springs 58-58 are provided, the ends of said springs resting inholes provided in the stopping piece 52 and the base 56.

The covers 49 and 50 are made of such sizes that their edges will beflush with the outer surfaces of the bottoni 26, the top 27, the leftside 28 and the right side 29, and the lower and upper edges of saidcovers will thus fit loosely between the inner faces of the circularsegments 48-48.

The covers 49 and 50 are further secured in place by the metalliclingers 59 59 and 60-60, the former being secured, respectively, at thebottom and the latter at the top'of the side 28, as shownin Fig. 1, inany approved manner such as by screws 61, and the fingeizfportionsthereof extend over the outer faces, of the covers 49 and 50.

The covers 49 and 50 are provided on the edges adjacent to the side 29with metallic locking pieces 62-62, the latter being secured to thecovers 49 and 50 by screws such as 63.

Spring pressed catches 64-64 are located so that their inwardly disposedend may co-act with the locking piece 62 in order to secure the covers49 and 50 in position. The catches 64.--64 are revolubly mounted uponthe pin 65 and the latter is rigidly secured in the ear 66 which isformed integrally with the base 67 and the bases 67 are secured to thcside 29 by screws such as 68, shown in Fig. 6. rlhe catch 64 is providedwith a handle 69 and a spring 70 located between said handle and thebase 67 serves to normally keep the catch 64 in contact with the lockingpiece 62, as shown in Fig. 6. In order to provide clearance aroundthecatch 64 and the base 67, slots such as 71, shown in Fig. 6, areprovided in the covers 49 and 50.

The stop gap 72 shown in Fig. l0 is provided for a purpose hereinafterexplained. It consists of two fiat portions 73-7 3 which may be of wood,metal or other suitable composition and they are joined together by twocylindrical posts 74-74, the latter being secured in any approved mannerin the flat portions 7 3-7 3.

The rack and stop gap just described may be used with the form of cardshown in Fig. 8 on the face of which there is printed at the top thewords Invoice No. and State N o.7 Below the words Invoice No." there areprinted six vertical columns, each column containing the numbers from 0to 9, inclusive, and a vertical dotted line being printed between thethird and fourth vertical rows of numbers. At the right of the lastvertical row of said figures, there is printed a vertical solid linewhich divides the vertical rows of invoice numbers from the verticalrows of State numbers. The State numbers consist of two vertical rows ofnumbers from 0` to 9 printed to the right of said solid vertical lineand under the heading of State N o.

The operation of my improved card rack is as follows It will be assumedthat there are a plurality of cards, (similar to the card illustrated inFig. 8), which are either delivered to the operator without regard toany particular order or which are stacked or lying heterogeneously. Itwill also be assumed that said cards are to be assorted and stacked sothat the numbers under Invoice N o. will be in proper numerical order.

It is to be noted by an inspection of Fig. 8 that the zeros underInvoice No. occupying the thousands place have been punched out and thatthe l in the huir dreds place, the 2 in the tens place and the 4 in theunits place have also been punched out and said punching causes thenumber of the card shown in Fig. 8 under the heading Invoice No. to be124.

It will also be noticed that the 3 in the tens place and the 4 in theunits place under State N o. have also been punched out, thus causingthe card shown in Fig. 8 to be number 34 under State No.

There may be any number of headings at the top of a card for any numberof classifications Vand there may be as many vertical rows of figures orother indicia as there are subjects to be classified under that heading.

It will be assumed that the cards are to be assorted and stackedaccording to their invoice numbers and it will be further assumed thatthe operator picks up first the card shown in Fig. 8 and it will befurther assumed that the front cover 49 is removed from the rack andthat the rear cover 50 is in place thereon.

The operator then takes the card shown the bottom section of that row ofverticalsections for which the number shown full on the shelf 33 in Fig.7 corresponds to the number punched out in the units place under InvoiceNo.

Then any of the bottom sections become full of cards, the operatorcontinues to pile the cards numbered corresponding to that section inthe sections above.

It is to be noted that all the sections in cach vertical row of sectionsare designated by the number shown by full lines on the shelf 33.

It is evident that when the cards are segregated as just described, eachcard will be lying face downward in a section in one of the verticalrows of sections that is numbered in full lines on shelf 33 tocorrespond with the number punched out in the units place under thecaption Invoice No. Consequently, the card shown in Fig. 8 will be lyingface downward in the section of the vertical row of sections that isnumbered 4 on shelf 33.

The left edge of the front cover 49 is then placed under the fingers 60and 60 and between the inside faces of the circular segments 48 and theright hand edge is pressed inwardly until the locking pieces 62 areunder the catches 64. The operator then presses down the stopping piece52 until the same is out of the notch 5l. Isle then .Qrasps the handle44 and turns the card rack upside down until the notch similar to 5l inthe top circular segment 4S embraces the stopping piece 52.

lVhile the operator is turning the card rack upside down it isunnecessary that he retain hold upon the stopping piece It is onlynecessary that he press said stopping piece down during the initialstage of the turning moven'ient. As the card rack is turned around, asjust described, the outer face of the top circular segment 4S willstrike the stopping piece 52 and depress it until the slot similar to 5lis opposite said stopping piece and then the springs 58 will force thestopping piece into said slot.

The rear cover 50, which is now at the front, is te be removed and allthe cards are now lying face up and the numbers shown dotted on shelf 34in Fig. 7 now show on the front and will read the same as the numbersshown by full lines, read in Fig. 7.

It is also evident that the cards which before occupied the bottomsection are now at the top and that the lower sections are unoccupied.

Incase there is a sufficient number' of cards to completely lill any ofthe vertical rows of sections of the card rack during the rstsegregation, it is necessary that a second card rack be used to performthe second segregation about to be described or that the cards beremoved from the bottom section.

t The operator now takes the top card out of the top compartment in thezero vertical row of sections and he places said card face downward inthe bottom section in the vertical row of sections that is numbered onshelf 34 in dotted lines corresponding to the ligure punched out in thetens place under the caption Invoice No.

The operator continues this operation on all the cards in the zerosection until all the cards in said section have been segregatedaccording to the numbers punched out in the tens place.

It will thus be evident that the cards in any section will be those inwhich the number punched out in the tens place corresponds to the numbershown dotted on shelf 34 which designates the vertical row comprisingsaid section.

Since this collection of cards during the first segregation has beensegregated so that it comprises only cards having zero in the unitsplace, it is evident that the Zero row of sections will now containnothing but cards having Zero in the units and tens places; the sectionsin the row of sections marked l will contain nothing but cards havingzero punched out inthe units place and ones punched out in the tensplace; the section in the row ot sections marked 2 will contain nothingbut cards having zero punched out in the units place and 2 punched outin the tens place, and so on for the rest of the sections.

The operator then similarly segregates all the cards occupying thesections in the vertical rows marked 1, 2, 3 and so on, and thus it willbe evident that t-he section in each vertical row of .sections willcontain the cards having punched out in the tens place the number whichcorresponds to the number which designates said vertical row and isshown dotted on shelf 34. It is also evident that the cards lying facedownward at fthe bottom lof the bottom compartment in each row will bethe cards having Zero in the units place, the cards next superimposedwill be the cards having one in the units place, and superimposed abovethe cards having one in the units place will be the cards having 2 inthe units place, and so on.

The cover 50 is now put on in the same manner as was described withreference to the cover 49 and the rack is turned upside down as beforedescribed, excepting that the operator uses the handle 43 which is nowat the top. The front cover 49 is now removed and the cards are againface up.

Should any of the vertical rows ot sections be completely filled up'during the segregation just described, a second rack is to be used or.some ot the cards are to be removed from the bottom section, as beforeexplained.

The operator now takes the top card out of the top section in Ithe Zerorow of sections and places it face downward in the bottom section in thevertical row of sections designated by the number shown in full lines onshelf 33 which corresponds to the number punched out in its hundredsplace.

Then the operator continues this operation on all the cards in the Zerosection until all the cards in said section have been segregatedaccording to the numbers `punched out in the hundreds place.

It will thus be evident that the cards in any section will be those inwhich the number punched out in the hundreds place corresponds to thenumber shown by full lines on shelf 33 which designates the vertical rowcomprising said section. Since this collection of cards during the iirstand second segregations has been segregated so that i-t comprises onlycards having zero in the units and tens places, it will be evident thatthe Zero row of sections will now contain nothing but cards having Zeroin the units, tens and hundreds places; the sections in the row ofsections marked l will contain nothing but cards having Zero punched outin the units and tens places 'and ones punched out in the hundredsplace; the section in the row of sections marked 2 will contain nothingbut cards having zero punched out in the units and tens places and 2punched out in the hundreds place, and so on l'or the rest of thecompartments.

rlhe operator then similarly segregates all the cards occupying thesections in the vertical rows marked 1, 2, 3 and so on, and thus it willbe evident that the section in each vertical row of sections willcontain the 110 cards having punched out in the hundreds place thenumber which corresponds to the number which designates said verticalrow and is shown dotted on shelf 34. It is also evident that the cardslying face down- 115 ward at the bottom of the bottom section in eachrow will be the cards having zero in the units and tens places; thecards next superimposed will be the cards having Zero in the tens placeand one in the units place 120 and superimposed above the cards havingzero in the tens place and one in the units place will be the cardshaving Zero' in the tens place and 2 in the units place, and so on.

The cover 49 is then placed in position in 125 the same manner asalready described and the segregation continues in the same order forthe numbers in the thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousandsand so on, places,the net result of the operations De- 130 ing that thecards Will be nally stacked and lying in correct numerical order. Thus,the card shown in Fig. S Will be lying in between the cards punched 123and 125.

1f the segregation is to be made according to State numbers or accordingto any other indicia that may be put upon the card, the procedure isexactly the same as has been described With reference to the numericalindicia. Q

I claim 1. The combination with a card rackt comprising a plurality ofsections open at both ends, of a frame for revolubly supporting saidrack, removable covers for said ends revolving with said rack, notcheson said rack and a stopping piece supported by said frame and located toenter any one of said notches to stop said frame in the positioncorresponding to said notch.

2. The combination With a card rack, of a frame for revolubly supportingsaid rack, a plurality of circular segments secured to said rack, anotch in each segment, a stopping piece supported by said frame andlocated in the path of said circular segments, guides for said stoppingpiece supported by said frame and springs for forcing said stoppingpiece into said notches.

3. The combination With a card rack, of a frame for removably andrevolubly supporting said rack, a table supported by said iframe beneathsaid rack, notches on said rack and a spring pressed stopping pieceremovably supported on said table located to enter said notches.

t. The combination with a card rack comprising a plurality of sectionsopen at both ends, of means for revolubly supporting said rack,removable covers for said ends revolving With said rack, means forlocking said rack in'tWo positions, and an index upon each end of eachsection, the indicia for each section being similar, Whereby thesections are similarly indexed in each position of said rack.

5. The combination With a card rack comprising a plurality of sectionsopen at both ends, of means for revolubly supporting said rack,removable covers for said ends revolving With said rack, means forlocking said rack in tWo positions, and an index upon each end of eachsection, the indicia for each section being dissimilar and the indiciafor said ends being arranged according to the same order from left toright when viewed from either side of said rack.

6. A card rack comprising a plurality of sections open at both ends incombination With covers therefor, means for supporting said covers atthe bottom thereof, fingers for retaining one edge of each cover andlocking pieces and catches for retaining the other edge thereof.

In testimony whereof l aiiix my signature.

ROBERT PATTERSON GASTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 1). C.

